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Feature: 'The Challenge of Sex: The Sex in Games Design Challenge'

Today's main Gamasutra feature revisits and expands on the presentations for the 'Sex in Games Design Challenge' given at last November's Montreal Games Summit, interview...

Simon Carless, Blogger

January 16, 2006

1 Min Read
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Today's main Gamasutra feature revisits and expands on the presentations for the 'Sex in Games Design Challenge' given at last November's Montreal Games Summit, interviewing participants about titles such as Heather Kelley's Lapis and Frank Lantz's Sporgy. As Bonnie Ruberg's introduction to the article explains: "2005 was a year of questions about sexual content in games. Is it moral? Is it tasteful? Is it revolutionary? Or is it just inevitable? Whatever your take on the sex in games debate, one thing is for sure: it poses a unique challenge for video game developers. Sex may be a basic human function, but it involves a complicated set of mechanics, both physical and emotional. How does an act as complex as sex translate to interactive gameplay? Designers of the infamous GTA “Hot Coffee” patch took the easy road; after all, sex doesn't get much simpler than hitting the shift key to switch positions. Contestants in a recent game design challenge, on the other hand, have given the question of developing sex a more in-depth and creative look." You can now read the full Gamasutra feature on the subject, including further exclusive interviews and details from the participants (no registration required, please feel free to link to the article from external websites).

About the Author

Simon Carless

Blogger

Simon Carless is the founder of the GameDiscoverCo agency and creator of the popular GameDiscoverCo game discoverability newsletter. He consults with a number of PC/console publishers and developers, and was previously most known for his role helping to shape the Independent Games Festival and Game Developers Conference for many years.

He is also an investor and advisor to UK indie game publisher No More Robots (Descenders, Hypnospace Outlaw), a previous publisher and editor-in-chief at both Gamasutra and Game Developer magazine, and sits on the board of the Video Game History Foundation.

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